About 1,000 people living in West Africa will have increased access to water, thanks to five UF graduate students and a $10,000 grant.
These students and another UF team were chosen by the Environmental Protection Agency in this year's People, Prosperity and the Planet program, or P3. The program is an annual competition in which students develop and carry out earth-friendly projects across the globe.
The chosen UF teams were among 43 other winners awarded $10,000 grants.
The awards may not end there.
In April, both teams will compete in Washington, D.C., against other recipients of the grant to try for an additional $75,000.
Iris Patten, a Ph.D. student for urban and regional planning, and her four teammates developed their project based on an initiative started by the Tampa Community Building Group: building a water reservoir in Sissene, Burkina Faso, in West Africa.
John November, a member of Patten's team, said the goal of their project is to develop and enhance the reservoir system, which is open-faced. This allows access to water during the rainy season, which lasts only three months of the year.
Because of the heat, water evaporates quickly, leaving little or no water outside of October.
"Right now, they rely on a well that may or may not work," Patten said. "It may or may not have water in it."
The new reservoir will be close-faced, which will eliminate all evaporation. Besides storing water, the reservoir will also separate drinking water from water used for agricultural purposes.
The second team, which is made up of UF engineering students, will be a little closer to home.
Their project will take place in the Florida pine forests, where they will measure earthly effects stemming from bioenergy production, or the energy that comes from renewable sources, according to a UF news release.
